The Way It Goes
by zippy zany
Summary: Troy and Gabriella never hit it off in high school because Troy was a jerk and a bully - over done I know but this one is different. Now ten years later they might get a second chance. Longer summary inside.
1. Gabriella

**Summary: **Troy and Gabriella knew each other in high school however Troy was a jerk and a bully for reasons of his own and they never hit it off as friends let alone get involved romantically. Now ten years down the line a tragic situation not only brings them back together but brings a certain number of skeletons from the closet making certain things clear. Will sparks fly this time around?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters just borrowing them for my own amusement. If they had something to say about it I am sure that Troy would not be happy with me for putting him though hell once again.

**Warning: **This story is rated 'T' and will have situations that would have abuse of a minor and minor cursing. You have been warned!

_**Chapter 1: Gabriella**_

It was Gabriella's first day at her fourth school since she started high school. Her mother never stayed in the same location more than six months and they had to move because of her job. Her mother at least promised that she had asked her company not to transfer her until her daughter's graduation and Gabriella was hoping that would be the case.

She never had time to make friends, get asked to dances and stuff because she was never in one place long enough.

She was starting East High, a public school that had surprising good results in the academic department. They of course excelled in the athletics department and Gabriella could see this from all the red and white colours the school was draped in and the posters of the basketball team that was around. She could tell from the first look that this school was into basketball more so then football.

She found her homeroom and she was determined to keep her head down for the time being as she didn't know who was who. Most importantly she didn't know who she should ignore. In her previous schools the student body never had good things to say about those that were good at academia and she didn't think this school would be any different.

During the second period change she was trying to find her way in the big coward that was busily moving about trying to get to her next class when she collided with an unmovable object and she fell back with everything in her hands scatting about. Great just what she need!

"WHAT THE F--K!" came the angry response from above her and she saw and heard the quiet fall on the student population that were around them as they turned to watch was happening.

She looked up from her position on the floor to look into the most beautiful cobalt eyes she had ever seen. They however seem to be made of pure anger and frustration and as he looked down at his t-shirt it was covered in something wet. 'Oh my god!' thought Gabriella, he must have had a bottle of juice in his hands and she had crashed into him.

"I am sorry," she squeaked "I didn't see you, it was an accident."

"Sorry? Accident?" his voice seemed to get lower as he got angrier. She hastily got to her feet wanting to be at least on the same eye level with him.

"You need to look up when you walk! That way you can watch where you are going and you won't idiotically kill someone!" he snarled at her. She would have loved to stand up for herself however she was not the type. She looked down at her feet and mumbled another apology. She then continued to stand there as the guy proceeded to rip her self esteem to bits by piling on a truck load of insults.

From the reaction of the crowd she guessed that this was the resident bully as no one tried to intervene and while no one laughed at her predicament, except a few cheerleaders who were overcome with mirth, no one seemed too distressed about it. She had met a ton of bullies in her previous schools, every school had them, she even ran into a few in her previous schools but she had never been the target of one so viscously.

She was saved by the arrival of some sort of sports team. If she had to venture a guess she would have to say it was the basketball team because the guy with an afro hair do was supporting a basketball under one arm. It looked like her tormentor was one of them as they referred to him as 'captain'. Great not only was he a bully he was also a jock! They however distracted the pissed of jock enough for her to make an escape.

When she thought about it that night, while getting ready for bed, she wasn't sure but she could have sworn that one of the players had gotten right in front of her breaking her view of the bully on purpose.

Perhaps East High was not such a bad place, if the jocks were willing to protect a one body like her from one of their own nevertheless.

XXXXXXXXX

The next day in math class Gabriella had noticed that she was slightly behind the curriculum for this school. She frowned, it wasn't like she didn't know the stuff but she liked being on top of things and catch up had never been one of her favourite things to do. What the teacher was talking about suddenly got her attention.

"Now class for this particular project you are going to be working with partners and I will free some of your classes so you can meet up with your partners to work on the project."

Work with partners? But she had just started yesterday, she didn't know anyone, how was she going to find herself a partner to work with?

"And before any of you get any ideas about partnering up I will partner you up after the fiasco of last times pairings." With that he started calling people's names and who they would be working with. There were groans and various forms of "but Mr. Jones…." along with an occasional "YES!"

"Miss Montez," called the teacher and when she looked up he gave her a slight smile and continued, "You will be working with Mr. Bolton," he indicated to the back of the classroom. Gabriella turned around to see her partner and saw the guy she had run into in the corridors yesterday. He wasn't even looking up, he was wearing a sweat shirt with a hood and his hood was pulled low and he was staring at his notebook like he didn't want to be there.

Gabriella inwardly groaned she was partnered with a jock of all people. He probably thought he was too good to be in class and had better things to do then sit though a class. She would probably have to do all the work while he went off to play with his friends.

"You can use the seventh period math class today to meet up with your partners to discuss the work load. You are welcome to use this classroom as well as any other part of the school."

At that moment the bell for the class rang and everybody started to shuffle out of the class. Gabriella made her way to her locker and started to get her books out for her next class. When she turned around she almost ran into someone they were standing so close.

She fell back against the lockers with a surprised "Oh…"

When she looked up she could see under the hood and she saw blue eyes that flashed. The boy took a step closer to her and whispered "You are to meet me in the library for the seventh period," and with that he turned around and walked off.

She looked after him and saw how other students quickly got out of his way to let him pass. If they did not move he made them move, she noticed that he was not physical but his mouth seemed to work for him in getting people out of his way. He wasn't even loud as she could not hear him however as she saw one of the girls he spoke to turn and come her way, she saw that the poor girl had tears in her eyes and was on the verge of breaking down.

During lunch she had collected enough information to know that his name was Troy Bolton otherwise known as the 'The Bolt'. How original for the jock to have a nick name to be shouted during the games. He apparently was not only the greatest jerk the school had he was also the greatest basketball player slash golfer.

She observed him sitting at lunch although he did not say anything you could tell from his shoulders and the way he held himself that he was angry. While he did not do anything outwardly degrading to the school population he was also not nice. When someone came up to their table it looked like they got a taste of his poisonous tongue.

He ate his lunch quickly and then stood up to leave. Gabriella held in her mirth as she saw that many people stood up when he did, they however sat back down after he made a comment and left. He was like royalty; people stood up when he stood up and sat when he did.

He probably hadn't done a single piece of homework in his entire life and had more muscle in his brain then he had firing neurons thought Gabriella.

XXXXXXX

Gabriella made her way to the library at seventh period. She still could not believe she had come, the jerk of a jock was probably messing with her and this was just to make fun of her. She went around the library looking for him knowing it was a lost cause he probably didn't know the way to the library.

She was surprised when she found him upstairs in the corner of the library sitting at a table which was pleasant and light. It was next to the ceiling to floor windows so it had a nice view of the back of the school. Looking around she thought that it was probably the best table in the library; of course the jerk would command the best table in the library when he considered it important enough to come.

"Well what are you waiting for? Sit down!" came the rude comment and she found herself once again gazing into those angry aquamarine eyes. For a moment she couldn't help but think that they were unearthly beautiful.

She quickly sat down at the available seat. She was nervous and shy she had not really expected to find him. He started speaking without looking at her which Gabriella found uncomfortable and within moments she realized that somehow her new partner, between the second period and now, had not only began to research the paper they were to write he already had an outline for it.

She was stuck dumb, even she did not work that fast. There was no possible way that he could work that fast! He must have nicked someone else's paper and she Gabriella Montez did not rip off work!

"Now wait a minute, whoever you got this paper off of you better give it back and we will start again..." she would have continued to talk if he had not snarled slammed his fist down on the table. She jumped a little frighten of his anger, what was his problem?

"You think I got this from someone? I do not get my school work from others and just for your information I also do not get others to do my work for me. I do however expect you pull your weight on this paper."

Academic achievement was something she could stand up for, "I will of course pull my weight, however I will pull my weight on a work that would be ours. And that means a paper that is yours and mine. There is absolutely no way you could have done this much work on a paper that you learned about just this morning. So my conclusion is fair." With that said she folded her arms and glared at him, he might be the bully and the God of this school but she would stand her ground in terms of her work.

He mirrored her as he leaned back and folded his arms as well and cocked his head to the side he seemed to be regarding her trying to work her out. After a minute he seemed to have come to a conclusion as the side of his mount went up in slight amusement.

"Mr. Jones is a very predictable teacher, he was either going to assign this project or a geometry related something. So when I had the time in the last two weeks I did the primary research for both papers making sure the work load was lighter. He will very likely assign the geometry paper next."

He had done the primary for two papers before they were assigned? No brainiac she knew would do that? Who was this guy?

"Who are you?" she asked surprised enough that she didn't think before speaking.

At this her partner's mirth seemed to double. He held out his hand, "Troy Bolton."

"I know who you are," she said still dazzled with what he had told her, "I just thought that you were a ...." it seemed that her brain had finally caught up with her mount as she stopped talking and blushed when she realised what she was going to say.

His eyes seemed to frost over at her comments and his easy manner from just a moment ago disappeared, he pulled his hand back, "A jock?" he asked and went on without waiting for a reply. "As a matter of fact I am a jock, however I would like to get the best out of my high school education so in fact I do study."

With that his eyes narrowed, "I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt, as I didn't even know you. You however seemed to think you already know me. Let me tell you something Miss Montez, you don't know me at all! Now go take your prejudgments somewhere else!" with that he turned back to whatever he was doing and ignored her.

Gabriella was shocked, she always considered herself a fair and kind person, and she was put into her place by a jock, a bully no less. She had made assumptions on the fact that this boy was a jock. She found herself apologizing to him for a second time in a matter of two days "I am sorry," she could see that he was listening by the way his shoulders tensed up, "I did assume you would not be interested in grades as you seemed to be interested in sports but I should not have after all this is my third day and as you pointed out I do not know you." She took a deep breath, "so if you still wish to work on the project with me here I am, if not I can talk to Mr. Jones about getting us new partners."

He raised his eyes and for a moment she saw that he was deeply hurt by her reaction and then any trace of vulnerability disappeared as his eyes became hard and unreadable and he started to talk about the project once again. She found him to be insightful and thoughtful and they had a very productive and in her books an enjoyable seventh period.

They agreed to meet next free math period as well before breaking away to work on their own. Gabriella realised as she was making her way home that she had never introduced herself to her partner.


	2. Troy Part 1

_**Chapter 2 - Troy - Part 1**_

Troy Bolton was the king of East High. He was simply known as Troy "The Bolt" Bolton. He was a junior who held most of the schools attention which was something that was unheard of. He had gotten onto the varsity basketball team in his freshman year and then had made starting varsity the following year furthermore he had led the Wildcats to District Championships and had scored the 42 points that made the Wildcats Champions last year.

He was a God, expected to lead the school to the Championship once again.

He was also a superb golfer and was expected to be that years state champion. These things gave him the status he had with the student body and he used it to his full advantage.

He got what he wanted and when he wanted it which made him one of the biggest bullies in the school. He was a very angry individual and was likely to pick a fight with any student that just looked at him the wrong way in the corridors. He always wore faded old blue jeans with a black t-shirt usually with a hoddie over the top with the hood pulled up with old scurfy sports shoes.

Many thought that he was setting the strand for the dress code in school and imitated his way of dressing however only a handful knew he dressed the way he did because he owned no other clothes.

The teachers would have liked to put him in his place for his behaviour however he was a downright nerd when it came to academics. He was one of the highest scoring students in the school with a perfect 4.0 average. He was asked to be on the schools scholastic decathlon team as their literature expert as that was what he specialized in. He tried to make it to their meetings and competitions but usually couldn't fit it into his schedule.

He handed all his homework, reports and papers way in before any of them were due, came prepared to class although he rarely participated in the class discussions and tested well above average in every standardize test. Since he was all around perfect the teachers over looked his anti social behaviour elsewhere and hoped that he would grow out of his mean ways.

However a few teachers noticed that he grew angrier with each passing year. The principal could count that there were 17 violent incidences in the East High premises just that year and Troy Bolton was either involved in or the instigator of all except two. He would have loved to suspend the boy to teach him a lesson but then many other schools had their eye on Bolton, he had already been offered a scholarship from a private school, also if he suspended the boy he would have to remove the boy from either the basketball or the golf team and both teams could not afford to lose him. So Troy got away with pretty much anything in the corridors.

Troy looked down at his history paper that the teacher had just given back. He couldn't believe that the teacher had given him a 'B+', he didn't do B pluses he did A's. His father was going to kill him when he found out.

He stayed after class to talk to Mr. Smith to see what he could do about the grade. Mr. Smith told him in detail all the things he had missed about the paper. Most of what he said wasn't a surprise for Troy as he had crammed the paper between a basketball match and a golf tournament and knew it hadn't been perfect. He was however worried about his grade. "Troy, you don't have to do anything about the grade. Yes, your paper was not up to your usual standards," the teacher ignored the slight flinch that went over the boy at his choice of words "but you don't have to worry about the end grade you would probably be able to pull an A."

"But sir you have told us that this was one third of our grade and right now my grade doesn't look that good."

The teacher shook his head this child was unbelievable. He wished more students were as crazy and dedicated as he was. "You scored 97% on your midterm test and should you score similar on your final you have nothing to worry about."

"I would still like the opportunity to make up the gap if it is possible?"

The teacher finally gave up, sometimes determined students were the worse, "if you wish and I only say that if you really want to, you can write a paper on the civil war we have been discussing in class."

Mr. Smith could see that he had made the right choice as the boys tense shoulders relaxed an inch and he took a deeper breath, "thank you sir, I really appreciate it. Anything specific you wish to see?"

"Pick a battle or a situation and be specific about it and I think you should be fine."

"When would you like it?"

How about never thought the teacher; he knew that Troy would do a far better job in this paper then the one he had assigned for class and he would be hard pressed to find anything missing in it. He knew the boy was capable and he regretted not giving the boy his paper back to correct so he could get the A. Everyone knew the boy played basketball and golf in fact his face was plastered on every poster the school had, he worked hard and was probably pressed for time and now he the teacher had created more work for the student. He knew he had a big game coming up next week.

"How about we say you have three weeks to do it in and even if it doesn't make it by then we can add on another week."

The boy cracked one of the rare smiles that he was known to give that changed his whole look from the school bad guy to most lovable person in world and James Smith could not help but smile back, "get out of here before I change my mind!"

In response Troy gave him a full blown grin before replying, "yes sir, and thank you again for the chance," before leaving his classroom as the next period started to fill in.

XXXXXXX

After school it was basketball practice. The whole team ran though some of the plays they were going to implement at the game next week. It was middle of the season and they knew that they had a good chance at the championships; no other player in the district had come close to their captains scoring average yet. They had the unbelievable jump shot of Troy Bolton.

The entire team knew that there was something wrong with Troy and his relationship with his father who was also their coach but they could never put their finger on what exactly was wrong. The coach tended to ignore the fact that his son was incredible or rather he ignored his son altogether. When each member joined the basketball team they had thought that he ignored him so he would not be showing favouritism towards his son but after a while they all noticed that the behaviour bordered on abuse.

At the end of each play the coach would praise all the players involved and criticize Troy on what he had done wrong, and tell him to run a certain number of suicides, do sit ups and push ups etc at the end of the practice for the mess up. The only time they knew that Troy got it right was when the coach didn't say a word to him. At the end of each practice when Troy stayed behind to do his 'punishment' the other players who were also involved in the mess up stayed behind to keep him company, sometimes that meant the entire team. The coach also ignored this particular fact and told them if they wanted an extra practice who was he to disagree?

They did not how to bring this up with the coach. Normally this would have been something the team Captain dealt with however since Troy was the captain there was no one else. Once about a year ago the Captain then had asked the Coach what he thought of Troy at the end of a particular spectacular play they had pulled off only to be ignored by the coach once again.

What was more shocking was that Troy had slammed the senior who was by far bigger than him into the lockers after practice and told him to mind his own business. The man might have been their coach but he was his father and as long as their relationship did not affect their wining they were to keep out of it. After the incident many remained quiet but they could see that the silent abuse was getting to Troy as he seemed to get angrier with each passing year and he took his anger out on the school population.

When practice was over and they had showered up they all headed to their own homes. Troy set out to walk the ten block distance to his home as there were no school buses at that time and he didn't feel like taking the city bus. It would have been nice if his father had waited for him but he never had before so why should anything be different now.

When he got home he dumped his school stuff in the kitchen and took his gym bag down stairs to the basement, while he was down there noticed that there was a lot laundry lying around so he sorted through them and started the washing machine.

He then went back upstairs and looked at the note on the fridge from his father telling him what specific chores he was supposed to do that day. His father spoke the minimum to him and his way communicating with his son was to leave him notes to tell him what to do. He held in a sign as he noticed that there were quite a few numbers of things on today's chore list and he set about doing them. As he moved about the house he noticed that some of the things on the list had already been done (probably by his step Mum Sarah) and he made a mental note to thank her.

After dinner Troy knocked on his father's office door. The twins were in bed and Sarah was reading them a bed time story, it was now or never, if he waited any longer then he would be in trouble for stalling.

"Enter!" was the command he heard and went in to accept his fate. He came to stand in front of his father's desk and waited to be acknowledged. After about five minutes Jack Bolton looked up at his only son.

Troy didn't say anything just handed over his history paper. Jack Bolton looked over the paper, "I see," was the only comment he made for the moment as he looked it over. "Did you ask what was wrong with it?"

Troy did not hesitate in answering, "Mr. Smith said that I had not included enough information about some of the backgrounds and part of my reference section was missing."

Jack looked over at Troy, "Have you asked him what you can do to make up the grade?"

"He said I if I wanted I could write a paper on a very specific battle or situation in the civil war."

"When is it due?"

"I would have three weeks."

"I want it done by next week. Am I clear?" Jack Bolton said as he got up from his desk and moved around to the CD player. He pressed play and a loud opera started to play.

"Yes sir," said Troy looking at the floor and not really following where Jack was going.

Jack moved around behind Troy and said in a resigned voiced, "very well," and started to unbuckle his belt.

Troy didn't need to be told what to do as he took a step closer to the desk and placed his hands on it to brace himself. He heard Jack flex the belt as he folded it in half and measure the distance to prepare. He took his arm back as far as it would reach and gave Troy a powerful first blow. Troy gasped but held on, it was just the beginning.

The second and the third hits fell fast and hard one after the other and Troy couldn't hold the whimper in after the forth blow.

"Silence! You know what you should have done to avoid this so you have no right in complaining as it is entirely your fault!"

After that he got a fifth blow but didn't move, if he moved without permission he would be in trouble.

"Why are you being punished?"

"I did not perform to the best of my abilities," responded Troy hoping with the questions that this was it for the butchered up history paper.

"Did you know that it was not up to your standards before you handed it in?"

Troy hung his head. Damn his father to pick up that fact, yes he knew he had skipped part of the reference section and yes he knew he had not included enough information. He had hoped that the teacher would have over looked it and gave him the 'A' he usually got. But to admit that would get him an additional whipping were as if he lied he could get away free, however if his father picked up on him lying he would not be able to move the next day.

He picked the safer route and gave a whispered "yes,"

"What was that now?" was Jack's response as he tapped his already sore bottom with the belt reminding him what was at stake.

Troy lifted his head and stared at the photos that were on Jack's desk, there were Sarah and the twins, loads of Jack's old students but not a single one of him. "Yes, I knew the paper was incomplete,"

He jerked forward when the next blow came his hands almost slipping of the table. He spread his legs a bit further and opened his hands just an inch weirder to accommodate the next blows that he knew where coming.

Jack gave him the time so he could adjust himself before delivering three more blows onto his son's already aching back side.

Troy knew he would have received five hits for the missed grade, furthermore if he had known that the paper was not his best when he gave it in that was even a worse crime. He could not help the tears that gathered but he was determined that they would not fall.

His father delivered the tenth blow and just stood there for a minute. Troy hoped that it was over. "Turn around and look at me," was the command he got. He slowly rose up ignoring the burning pain, he somehow never got used to the pain although he did anticipate it, and turned to face his father.

"Did we learn our lesson?" asked his father pleasantly. Troy wondered why he always spoke in plurals while Troy was the only one that endured the pain.

"Yes sir,"

"And," prompted his father,

"Always give your best to the task at hand," said Troy, after all this was a lesson he had learned many times over the years he didn't need the belt to remember.

"You may go," said Jack and with that he turned around and went back to his desk sat down and picked up whatever he was doing from where he left off.

Troy made his way to his bedroom that was in the attic and lied down on his stomach on his bed. His bedroom was tiny that there was not much else in it but his single bed, a dresser for his clothes and a tiny table where a hand me down laptop from his father, that was more prone to crashing then working, sat.

He rested for well over half an hour until he could breathe without his breath hitching and then raised himself up onto his elbows and reached for his books that were pilled around his bed. He needed to get in some reading and studying in tonight if he did not want a repeat of tonight on his chemistry homework. Soon he lost himself in the periodic table and equations.


	3. Troy Part 2

_**Chapter 3: Troy - Part 2**_

Six days later it was game day at East High. They were the host school for the game and you could taste the excitement in the air. Many of the school population were in some form of red and white and there were random cheers going up in the corridors especially if one of the team members were spotted. As the game approached the student body got more wound and by now there were people who were sporting a bolt on their cheeks or arms and as the team made it on to the gym a continues cheer of "Bolt! Bolt! Bolt!" could be heard. The Wildcats were in their element!

After the game all the players had showered, received their devotion from the coward and were back in the changing rooms for the debriefing of the game. They were seated all around the benches in the section that was just across from the coach's office.

Troy was sitting on the floor at the back of the group with his back against the lockers one leg stretched out in front of him the other bent at the knee with his arm resting on it. He had his Wildcats hoodie on with the hood pulled low over his face and he was starring at his lap like it had all the solutions to the world problems.

The other team members had unconsciously sat around him blocking him from the view of their coach or rather his view of the coach. Jack Bolton would only be able to see him if he moved further in the room and turned in his direction which the team knew he would not.

The coach came in and gave his usual well-done team speech. They had won 92 points to 47 which meant that they had crashed the other team. He went on to name each member and point out something they had done well that night at the game. Many of the team members, perhaps all of them, held their breath hoping that the coach would recognize their captain who had in fact scored 54 points that game, surpassing his personal best which was 47.

Unfortunately the coach did not even glance over at his son as the told the team to go out and celebrate but not to get too wasted as Tuesday the practice for the next game would being. With that he left the team to their own devices. Many of them lingered waiting for the coach to leave which he did after grabbing his bag and turning off the lights in his office.

As soon as Jack left the changing rooms Troy lifted himself off the floor. The team could see that he was pissed from his clenching and unclenching fists and he had every right to be. He had won the game tonight and he had every right to be acknowledged by not only their coach but by his father.

Chad knew that he had to run interference that night between Troy and who ever came his way. Maybe he could take Troy out to the junk yard and get him to smash a few cars. Bob, the man who owned the junk yard, always seemed to have a soft spot for them and let Troy run wild in his junk yard.

The night went without too many incidents. The Wildcats thanks to their unstable captain had become a very responsible and well functioning unit. There was always a designated driver and a physically strong member of the team always alert to stop Troy from doing something he was bound to regret after having a few too many drinks.

They all knew that Troy did not drink, he did not even frequent the party scene, he did however go out after a game and get shit faced drunk and they all knew why. Chad or some else would take him to Chad's house and let him sleep it off on Chad's guest bed. Chad would always set his alarm for seven o'clock and force himself up and then get Troy up and into the shower and force fresh fruit juice, water and aspirin down his throat and send him home.

There was nothing different to that night's activities, the members of the team got drunk, hooked up with some cheer leaders and wanted to go mail box bashing but where stopped by Jake who was the designated fight breaker. He instead led them to the super hard piñata they had gotten for the occasion, and one mentioned the fact that it was Troy that smashed the thing to pieces and then to even to tinier pieces and a trip to the junk yard was put on hold.

Zeke then took Chad and Troy to Chad's place to put them both into bed. Troy was never one to talk much and when he got drunk it was like he became a mute he did not say a word and no one knew what he was thinking.

Troy's eyes followed Chad as he moved around the room getting ready for bed and Chad moved over to cover him. He wondered what the hell Troy was thinking in that over working brain off his, hopefully the alcohol had numbed it enough that he no longer was thinking.

"Go to sleep buddy, it's all right," said Chad feeling that everything was as far as they could from being alright however he didn't know what to do to help his friend. Troy and him had been best friends since kindergarten and when Troy was nine his mother had walked out on him and his father. Things had began changing shortly afterwards Troy had become withdrawn and sullen and when high school started he had added driven to his weird list of behaviours, he trained and studied harder than anyone Chad knew, something making him reach beyond his abilities.

Chad wouldn't call them best friends any longer perhaps not even friends, they rarely spoke or rather Troy rarely said anything that wasn't an insult to anyone however Chad had been brought up believing that you needed to be there for those you considered family and Troy was family. Chad hoped that when the time was right Troy would ask him for help or at least let him in on what was going on. There and then Chad made a promise to himself that he would always be there.

He saw Troy's eyes flutter close and his breathing even out and Chad did not forget to get up the next morning to send Troy his way home.

Troy made it home around eight and right away started in on his chores. He needed to be done before eleven. The next morning after every game Sarah always took the twins to the park after they had breakfast so Jack and Troy could have some 'quality' time together. Jack would join his family later in the morning after he was done with Troy.

He was vacuuming the downstairs den when he saw out of the corner of his eye Sarah and the girls leave for the park and his father kissing them goodbye and telling them that he would join them soon. Jack moved to go back upstairs and as he was going up he stopped where Troy was and barked a "Come!" command and turned around and led the way. Troy turned off the vacuum cleaner and followed his father up the stairs.

Troy entered his father office and went to stand in front of his desk like he had done so many other times in his short life. He had come to except this but he would never accept it. After every game there was a glimmer of hope inside him that his father among congratulating other players of the team would at least acknowledge him. When that did not happen he was crashed every single time. Then the next morning there was still the tiniest of hopes that he would be ignored like he was done at the debriefing.

However it was not to be. His father started of telling him what he had done wrong, the two plays he had messed up and the points he had missed. "Do you know how many points you missed yesterday?"

"Two three pointers and four two pointers," replied Troy without any hesitation he after all knew what he had done wrong.

"Well since you are so clever why don't you tell me what does your graveness add up to for this particular game?" said his father in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Troy swallowed though his dry throat before answering, "22 points." Each point he missed was counted as well as each play he messed up would be five points each.

"Why don't we round that number up to 25 so it is a nice number all around," said his father like he was doing him a favour. Troy wanted to tell him if he was rounding up 22 he should have rounded down instead of up as that was the rule in maths but he kept the thought to himself, a comment like that would probably cost him five more.

For this particular exercise his father didn't use his belt. That was only for academic purposes. For this he had his own piece of willow stick, which was about 60 cm long and almost tin as a pencil. It left behind a line of liquid fire.

His father took the stick down from where he kept it on top of his bookcase away from any wondering eyes that might come into his office and he flicked it though the air a few times. Troy didn't know for what. The man should know by now that it worked. Nevertheless he knew it was time and he bent over and he placed his hands on the desk like he did for the belting. Only this would be better and worse.

The only thing better about this particular exercise was that his father didn't take his time with it, the 25 hits would be delivered very quickly and efficiently and it would be over within just under two minutes. It would only hurt far more.

He felt his father take up position behind him and he generously asked "Ready?" Could he actually say no? Troy just nodded his head not trusting himself to speak at that moment.

The blows started to come swift and strong one after the other like a machine gun. His father by now was an expert at this, not a single blow fell on the same place as the previous one. His father started on top of his backside and carefully made his way down to his sitting spot and to then to his thighs and then carefully made his way up again.

Troy gasped, he had forgotten how much this hurt on top of a belting. He had just been belted six days ago and this on top was agony. His last belting before this week had been almost a year ago and this was one of the reasons why he worked so hard to keep his grades up. A belting could be avoided if one worked hard enough however no matter how much he practiced and worked there would always be messed up plays and missed shots at a game. While the messed up plays where sometimes not his fault (this week it had been Jason and Zeke who messed up on both accounts) he was always the one who paid for it in triplicate.

Troy tried to hold himself in place not trying to jar forward with each hit and bit his lip in order not to cry out. He however could not help the tears that started making their way down his face.

And as fast as it started it was over.

"Now that wasn't so bad was it?" asked the bastard that was supposed to be his coach and father daring him to disagree.

"No sir, it was what I deserved," choked out Troy, he had learned long ago that this is what the bastard wanted to hear.

"This week for your morning practices I want nothing but free throw practice and for every basket you miss it would be first 10 suicides, for the next miss 10 sit ups then 10 push ups then repeat of the procedure. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir"

"Now get out of my sight!" Troy didn't need to be told twice as he made a quick exit and went back to what he was doing.

Shortly he heard his father leave for the park to be with his wife and twin daughters and for a moment wondered why his father had decided to keep him after his mother had walked out. He could have just dropped Troy of at child services and save himself the trouble.

But Troy knew that the bastard enjoyed the compliments he got in Troy's behalf. People around them were always known to comment on how great he was in basketball and wasn't he versatile playing golf and did they notice that he was good at his school work. Jack couldn't ask for a better son. Troy closed his eyes and gave himself the little prep talk he was known to do, "the year is half over and then there is one more year to go, the bastards regime will get you the scholarship to get you away from here and then you won't have to see him ever again."

This was Troy's carrot at the end of the stick. He wanted to get away as far as he could from the man that called himself his father and he believed that he could only do that with a scholarship and he could almost taste the freedom that was going to come his way, he just had to hold on for a little bit longer.

Around eleven he took a shower and got dressed in khaki pants, a collared shirt and his gym shoes, and made sure that his hair looked as if had attempted to brush it. If students from East High had seen him he was sure that they would not recognize him. He grabbed his hat and bus pass and headed out to the Los Altos Golf Club. He caddied on the weekends; it was something he had done for the last three years. He had started out as a trainee at the golf club caddying for anyone that was looking for a caddy however he held the rank of Captain now, had his own regulars that went on the course with him.

On Saturdays he had two regulars; one an elder gentleman that he had caddied for the last two years and then a new regular he had gotten this year; a young aggressive lawyer that tripped every well should he win. The job was back breaking and hard as you carried an 18 kilo bag around for at least 6 kilometres for two hours for each client but it paid very well. He was paid 50 dollars per bag plus tips.

One of the reasons Troy caddied over the weekends was that when you caddied for the club you got to play free golf on Monday's when the club was closed for maintenance. So Troy spent Monday's after school at the club playing and polishing of his game. He on occasion had a mock up game with the other caddies and all around had fun. He was glad that his father never got involved with his golf training which was the reason that made golf so enjoyable for him.

On Sundays Troy had four regulars that he caddied for. He felt privileged when one of the people he caddied for changed their schedule so he could caddie for them. He also went to different clubs and was humbled when people asked him the caddy on a different golf course. A Mr. McKenzie even picked him up and dropped him off if he was to play on a different course. He would find that he could hold a light conversation with his clients and their partners or he could be totally silent if they wished it.

Sunday lunch times were always the best as Mr. Laurence would always take him into the club with them and ask him to have lunch with them. By that time Troy would be starving as he had already had two grounds of golf and really enjoyed the food. On an average weekend he made 400 dollars as all the people he caddied for tipped. He remembered a fabulous weekend when he had made a 1000 when one of the people he caddied for had found out that it was his birthday and had passed the news around and he had been tipped like no other not just by his clients but their partners as well.

He also worked at the club over the summers for the last 2 summers as a busboy during the week and occasional caddy if anyone wanted. He was back to caddying on the weekends. He enjoyed the work as it got him out of the house and gave him two free meals. His father was always watching what he ate and would tell him enough, that he needed to stay in shape. It was rare that Troy got up of the dinner table full. He also ranked up quite a bit of money in the summers.

He spent some of the money he made on golfing equipment as well as his basic needs such as clothes as when he had started caddying his father had stopped paying for anything he needed. Troy spent the minimum he could on clothes and such and put everything he made into a bank account for because one didn't really count on his father from not kicking him out of the house when he turned 18 or he had half the mind to move out himself. He did not want to go with the latter choice as he wanted to keep as much of the money he could for university. He at the moment had 38 thousand dollars in the bank, not bad for a child neither of his parents wanted and had basically not cared about.

He got off the bus at the golf club and couldn't help but smile as Mr. Robinson was waiting for him by the gate. He was an elder gentleman in his 80's and Troy really liked caddying for him.

"Mr. Robinson, I hope I am not late?"

"No you are not late, I think I am early, Mark went in to warm up I was just waiting for you say hello and head in myself."

"Let me get my smock on and I will join you on the green."

"Will do Troy, will do," and with that Troy went off to enjoy his weekend.


	4. Sarah

_This chapter might not make sense at the moment but it is needed for the story to go on.  
I hope you ENJOY!_

_**Chapter 4: Sarah**_

Sarah Bolton had been married to Jack Bolton for almost 5 years now. They had gotten married just after four months of knowing each other when they had found out that she was pregnant. She had been fresh out of College and 22 and believed that she had been madly in love. He was then 34, a high school basketball coach with a twelve year old son.

It had taken a month after they had gotten married for her to realize that he was an abusive father and a month more to learn to fear her husband. By that time it had been too late to back up, she had known that she was pregnant with twins and she had been paying of college loans and had no family to fall back on; there was no way she would have been able to afford to look after her children if she couldn't work.

So she had had decided to stay believing that she could change him. It had not worked. All this time knowşng him he had never raised his hand against her and to be honest she never witnessed him beating his son but the signs were there. He would call his son to his office and then there would be loud opera playing and when they came out she knew the boy was in pain. He also pushed the boy above and beyond his limits both in sports and academically. He boy was woken early every morning just so he could get in an extra basketball practice; weekdays, weekends, holidays, it did not matter he got up and was seen in the back yard practicing.

The time she had tried to intervene was the time she had learned to fear her husband. He had swiftly moved towards her and while towering over her had shouted, "Troy is not your son! His bitch of a mother left him to me, he is my son! I will raise him the way I think he should be raised and no one is going to intervene with it. Not even you! You should get it into your head that you are not his mother and never will be his mother. I did not marry you so you can be a mother to the dumb kid! You understand me!"

She had understood and watched helplessly as the man she loved and still loved beat his own son into submission. She believed that he was already halfway there when she came into the scene as Lucille had apparently left when the boy was nine and she was just there to watch the end results. She tried to help when she could, she did many of his chores that his father told him to do and fed him another serving of food when Jack's back was turned.

It had been shortly after they were married that she realized that Jack was also not going to spend a lot of money on the child. He might have told her that she was not his mother but he had given her a fifty one day and told her that the boy needed clothes as he had had a growth spourt. She at the time didn't know what to buy, fifty dollars was not a lot money if you wanted to get a 12 year old boy some new clothes. She had then fallen on a trick she had done at College and went to visit the Salvation Army store. There she had brought slightly used new clothes for the child and not worry about him not having enough clothes to wear.

Before the twins were born she also had been worried about where their room would be. Their house had three bedrooms; she had been hoping that Jack would move his office downstairs to the den as his office was second biggest bedroom upstairs, Troy's being the smallest. When she had mentioned it to Jack he had told her that he had it covered. One day when she came back from shopping she had found him painting Troy's room as the nursery and when she had braved the question to where Troy's bedroom was he had just pointed upstairs.

She had taken the stairs up to the attic to find that Jack had cleared the attic and had moved his son there. The space was tiny. There was room for a single bed, a dresser, a tiny table and not much else. She had found that there was nothing she could say to the despondent boy that had been sitting on his bed trying hard not to cry.

After the twins were born Jack had been very happy and Sarah had fallen into a make believe world that everything in her life was fine. Jack was a loving husband, attentive to her needs and a caring loving father. She had found herself ignoring that there was a silent thirteen year old boy that also lived in their house. She had been grateful for the help he provided as he had never complained about doing chores or helping out when needed and he had become a quiet presence in the house that she had been able to over look.

It had been a call from his school that had jarred her back to reality. He had gotten into a fight with four other boys and had come out on top. She had been shocked that her quiet step-son could possibly do something like that. The school then had taken disciplinary measures however he hadn't been suspended or anything as it was the other boys that had thrown the first punches. The principle had told her that her step-son had an anger management issue that he needed help with.

She hadn't known what to do, of course when Jack had found out Troy had spent a week at home being 'sick' as Jack had been determined that Troy pay for the crime. From then on she tried to be more attentive to the boys needs. It had been her who suggested that he work on the weekends and she had been the one who found him the caddying position at the club. She had known that Troy would enjoy the physical activity and the fact that he not only enjoyed playing golf but was surprisingly good at it had come as a pleasant surprise. She knew he had fun over the weekends and did everything in her power to keep his father away from it. They did not even go to watch him play, because she knew that the moment his father showed any interest in his golfing abilities all would be lost.

When he started high school she had brought home applications from universities that were on the other side of the country all with their scholarship programs attached. He had looked up at her and had understood; she had just provided him with a way out the situation that they both found themselves in.

Things got a bit better when she had gone back to work two years ago when the twins turned two. She didn't become a banker like she wanted but became a personal assistant. That way she could do some of her work from home. She had known that they were tight on money as looking after a family of five was not easy on the teachers' salary that Jack got; no matter how much of the expenses he had cut e.g. not paying for anything for his son. With her salary they were able breathe a bit easier and she had found that she herself enjoyed the fact she had little money to spend. Troy's eyes had lit up the day she had got him a brand new rock band shirt just for the fun of it. On Christmases and his birthdays his father got him things that were necessary such as new sport shoes and stuff instead of gifts so she knew that there were not very enjoyable for him.

She had also been worried that her children and their older brother were not bonding. She suffered from having no siblings and while her daughters would hopefully always have each she knew they would benefit in the future from having an older brother and Troy would benefit from having siblings that he could rely on. However she had known that they did not get much bonding with the silent boy that sat at the dinner table. The only thing they had learned from Troy about dinner time was that children should be silent. They also couldn't see him much as his schedule was always so busy with training, studying and chores. Sometimes she wondered if Jack had done it on purpose but could not see why he would.

Then about a year ago when Jack was away at a seminar in another city a solution had presented itself. There had been a crisis at work that had made her late at getting home. She had called home several times getting the answering machine and by the time she had gotten home around nine she had been very worried. She had found Troy sitting at the kitchen table studying as he was known to do and the twins fed, bathed and in bed. She had been grateful, Troy had just shrugged his shoulders and had told her that they were his sisters of course he could take care of them.

She had used that fact to her and his advantage, when Jack had gotten back she had inquired whether or not he would like to go out at night, when he had mentioned the twins and the expense of getting a sitter she had told him that Troy could look after them, after all he was their older brother and a free babysitter. Jack had liked the idea and she found out that they would go out every Saturday night as well a week day night once a week. She knew this gave her children and Troy time to bond as the twins came to adore their older brother. It also gave her an excuse to slip Troy some money. After a night of babysitting, she would put money for him to find usually in his lunch bag. Sometimes she could even spare a twenty for him and every time he found the money he would give her a dashing smile and when his father was not in the premises a kiss and a hug.

She was still sorry that they were stuck (especially him) in this situation and would have loved to have taken her daughters and him and gotten away from Jack, who she still loved very much, but she knew that they would never make it on their own. She was determined that Troy would get as far away from his father as possible and she would make sure that he never laid a hand on her daughters. That was all she could do for the moment.


	5. So High School Goes By

_**Chapter 6: So High School Goes By**_

Troy's and Gabriella's junior year in high school went by as predicted. They worked on the math project together and both got A's. They also collaborated on two other projects that year and got A's once again but they never breached the gap to become friends.

Gabriella became one of the school brainacs and made a few number of friends including meeting her best friend for life, Taylor McKessie, got on the scholastic decathlon team which freed Troy's position on it much to his delight and she was even asked to the junior prom by a guy named Jeremy.

Troy on the other hand went on to become the New Mexico State junior golf champion and led the Wildcats to an unbelievable victory against the West High Knights scoring a mind blowing 64 points. He was unstoppable.

The summer that followed was calm and Gabriella was pleasantly surprised to find that they were staying in Albuquerque for her senior year. She worked as a life guard at Sharpay Evans parent's country club along with the majority of her classmates and made life lasting friends in Chad, Kelsey and even dated Ryan for a while.

Troy on the other hand went back to what he always did over the summers and found that he now had the title of Honour as a caddy due to the fact that he was now a junior champion and therefore was charging 75 dollars per bag. He at first had been worried that his regulars would be put off by the price and drop him but they all told him he was worth the extra 25 dollars. He also found out that he was no longer a busboy but had been promoted to waiter which definitely paid better.

When senior year began there were a lot of expectations in the air as the whole school was expecting the Wildcats to become champions for the third time. Troy worked harder than ever at basketball and at his school work hoping that it would be enough. He once again led the Wildcats to victory and even managed to reclaim his title as the State Junior Golf Champion while maintaining a 4.0 average however no matter what he did it never seemed to enough for his father who continued to criticize and punish him at the slightest mistake.

When the acceptance letter for Gabriella came from Stanford the whole school was at a buzz, one of their own had gotten into Stanford and later Taylor got into Yale and Ryan and Kelsey got into Julliard which was also a reason to celebrate.

The most shocking news was Troy Bolton. He expected a full scholarship of NYU along with an early admittance and did not wait for graduation to leave and was gone before April came around.

The basketball team and the entire school were in shock. They had expected Troy Bolton to be a Red Hawk the following year and attend U of A as he had never given any indication of wanting to leave the state let alone ago almost 2000 miles away.

After graduation many of the graduating class kept in touch and on occasion met up in the summers back in Albuquerque, however not a single one of them ever heard from Troy Bolton again.

* * *

_Short I know but the story is just beginning! (I hope) More to come tomorrow!  
Maybe sooner if you drop me a review, I might be persuaded to re-read the next chapter (which is written) and post it before 24 hours. Or you are welcome to wait A WHOLE day..._


	6. 10 years later: Gabriella

_Well here it is...  
Thank you to all the people who reviewed. I am like the 'silentreader' who reviewed I probably have read hundreds of stories here on the site, added them to my alerts, favourites and never once reviewed the story.  
Although I have to say it feels really good to get reviews. _

_**Chapter 6: 10 years later - Gabriella**_

Gabriella's life had not turned out as she expected it. In the beginning of her junior year her mother had taken ill and she had frozen her university studies at Stanford to be with her. She had gotten the shock of her life when she found out that the reason that they had remained in Albuquerque for her senior year had been because when her mother's company had wanted to transfer her in the summer before Gabriella's senior year her mother had quit and gotten herself a less paying job. Therefore she was still living in Albuquerque when Gabriella had gone off to Stanford.

When she came to take care of her mother Gabriella had noticed that they were low on cash and had taken a secretary job at a law firm. After a year she had realised that her mother was not going to get better anytime soon so she had transferred her credits to the community college and took some night classes and within the year was qualified to be a teacher.

She had taken a temp teaching position in East High because it paid better and gave her more job security. Her mother had urged her to go back or at least to try to finish what she started at the University of Albuquerque but Gabriella knew that if she had done that she would have felt like she was abandoning her mother and they really couldn't afford it anyway.

After battling cancer for five years her mother's body had finally given up and she had passed away in her sleep in her own bed one night.

Although now that Gabriella could actually go back and grab her dreams (something she had promised her mother she would do) she was reluctant. She found out that she was comfortable, her temp teaching job had turned into full position and she had made friends. Before she knew it another three years had passed.

Even some of her friends from high school were around. Zeke had come back from culinary school and married a sweet girl and had a bakery in town, Chad Danforth ran the gym in town and was into physical therapy and was also married with three kids no less. She still spoke to Taylor, who was in Washington D.C. She even got together with Ryan and Sharpay when they came to town in the summers to spend some time in their family owned country club. Her life might not have turned out as she planned it however Gabriella was content.

She found that she was reflecting back to her high school years more and more, especially in the last two year when she had met Melinda and Jessica Bolton. She had never known that the anti-social Troy Bolton from high school had siblings let alone ones that were 12 years his junior.

She had also gotten to know Jack Bolton since she came to work at East High, he was a legend, 29 years as the coach of the Wildcats and 17 Championships. Next year would be his last year of teaching before retiring. Gabriella couldn't put her finger on it but she had never warmed up to the legendary coach and she thought there was something wrong with the man. Her reluctance was shared by Chad and Zeke who never said anything outwardly negative about the man but avoided the topic whenever it came up. If she was to venture a guess she would have guessed that it had something to do with the 'never seen after graduation' Bolton.

Gabriella had found that she developed a special relationship with the twins who were very smart. Their academic capabilities she had no doubts about as she remembered how smart and driven their older brother had been despite being a jock. She had expected them to have the same 'I am better than everybody' attitude but had found they were sweet and charming.

The death of their mother in a car crash, two months ago, had come as a shock to the entire community and the coach didn't seem to be doing so well. There was talk of early retirement and gossip about how he was going to put two children through college was talked about behind closed doors. What was also whispered was the fact Troy Bolton hadn't shown up to his step mother's funeral. People were known to say even if the boy hadn't gotten along with his step-mother he should have at least shown up to support his own father.

Melinda and Jessica took the death of their mother pretty hard and Gabriella found that she became a refugee for both girls as she would spend hours with them after school speaking and just being there.

It was an ordinary Wednesday night when a phone call changed her life.

"Hello"

"Ms....Mon....tez......" Gabriella could hear that the person on the other side was crying but couldn't put her finger on who it was.

"Are you ok sweetheart?" she asked no matter who it was it was someone who knew her and needed her help.

"Sorry ... for bothering .... you, its .... Melinda Bolton"

"Oh my God, Melinda! Are you ok?" Gabriella was panicking, why would the girl call her?

"I am sorry, I didn't know who else to call."

"Are you ok?" repeated Gabriella.

"I am at the hospital," Gabriella's insides froze, hadn't these girls just gone through enough with losing their mother.

"Tell me what happened?"

"It's... Jess..." with that Melinda started to cry.

"Sweetheart which hospital are you at?" she said as she started hunting for her wallet and keys.

"Mercy General"

"I will be there in 20 minutes. Can you hold on until then?" she said putting on her shoes.

"I think so," came the tiny response.

"Just hold on," she repeated before going out the door.

Twenty-two minutes later she walked into the hospital went directly to the reception, "Melinda and Jessica Bolton."

"Are you family?" said the bored nurse behind the counter.

"No I am not but I know they don't have anyone else here,"

"Well I am sorry ma'am if you are not family then I cannot give out information," said the annoying nurse popping her gum and flipping a page in the magazine she was looking at.

Gabriella normally was a very calm person however there were times in her life when she saw red. "Listen here Missy, there are two fourteen year old girls in there that need me right now and I don't care if I am not family you are going to give the information or you are going to have to call the police to get me out of here."

At that moment someone touched her on the arm and she turned around with a "What!" and came face to face with a police officer.

"I am sorry I over head you say Melinda and Jessica Bolton, are you here for them? And what is your relationship to them"

A police officer was at the hospital with the girls, Gabriella's knees suddenly felt like they would not hold her. "My name is Gabriella Montez, Melinda called me twenty minutes ago saying something about Jessica being here. I am their Maths teacher from high school but since their mother passed away I have been helping them cope. They don't have any family here but their father" She knew she was bubbling but suddenly she was nervous.

The police officer gave her a smile, "please follow me and I'll take you to Melinda," with that the police officer turned around and went towards the emergency room and Gabriella followed the officer around a curtain and couldn't hold in a gasp when she saw Melinda.

The girl looked up with tears in her eyes, "do I really look that bad?"

When Melinda had called and had said Jessica Gabriella had assumed that it was Jessica who was injured but now looking at Melinda it looked like she had a few grounds with a sumo wrestler and lost every time. She got her wits about her before she scared the poor girl.

"No darling, not at all. I was just shocked for a moment I had assumed it was Jessica who was hurt."

With that Melinda started crying and Gabriella immediately went to her, sat on the bed and pulled the girl into her arms.

"They took her in when we got here, she looked so bad..." choked out the girl.

"Mel darling what happened?" with that the girl started to cry harder. Gabriella looked at the police officer for answers.

"As far as we know Jessica got into an argument with her Dad that got out of control and...." the police officer didn't get to finish.

"Wait a minute, are you telling me this was Coach Bolton?" asked a surprised Gabriella she had assumed an accident, she didn't need to hear the answer from the officer as Mel started crying harder.

The police officer continued from where he had left off "and Melinda walked into the argument. The neighbours had heard the arguing and had called the police..." he couldn't continue. What he had walked in on would hunt his dreams, a father gone crazy that he was almost ready to kill his daughters.

"Where is Coach Bolton?" asked Gabriella. The man should be at least worried about what he, she was sure unintentionally, had done and should be worried about his daughters, he was a caring father that showed up at every event the girls were involved in.

"He was arrested and taken down town. He will have to wait for the morning to be charged and then for the bail to be set" replied the officer, at least this was information he had.

"And Jessica?" asked Gabriella frightened.

"We don't know, like Melinda said they took her in," with that Melinda gave a hiccup cry, "when we got here and I have been keeping Melinda here company until family could show up or if they don't have any family then I have to notify child services."

This was something Gabriella could answer "I know they have no other immediate family here in New Mexico but the girls have an older brother."

"Do you have any idea how we can contact him?" asked the officer. He didn't mind doing this, it was part of his job but the sooner family arrived and you passed on the responsibility the better.

"No I am sorry, I don't," suddenly she felt Melinda mumble something in her shirt. "What was that sweetheart?"

"I know how to get in touch with Troy," said Melinda a little bit calmer.

"You do?" asked Gabriella stupidly, in all their conversations in the last two months their older brother had never come up.

"May I use your phone to call New York?"

"Troy lives in New York?" asked Gabriella stupidly even as she was digging into her purse for her cell phone.

Melinda just nodded her head as she took the phone from her hand and stared at the numbers for a moment before dialling. Gabriella was once again surprised that the girl knew her brother's number by heart.

"Hi Mark, its Melinda Bolton," the girl seemed to be listening to the response. "May I please speak to Troy, it is kind of an emergency" with that Melinda looked up at Gabriella and gave her a weak smile, even just calling her older brother seemed to give her strength.

However Gabriella couldn't help feeling ticked off. "You don't have his personal number?" she couldn't help but ask.

Melinda gave her a teary smile, "this is his personal number he doesn't have his cell with him if he is in a meeting," and suddenly she gave a teary squeak of "Troy..." and the flood gates opened once again as she started to tell her brother what happened between half crying and half talking.

Gabriella backed away from the bed to give the girl some privacy to talk to her brother. After about five minutes she heard her hang up and made her way back to the bed. "He is on his way," said a slightly more relieved Melinda. As Gabriella got to the bed her cell phone started ringing. Melinda looked up and said, "He wants to talk to you."

It was understandable that Troy wanted more information from an adult but she wasn't sure if she was the right person to do it. She picked up the phone and very carefully said "hello?"

"Who are you?" came the immediate reply. It was good to know that Troy hadn't lost his sweetness thought Gabriella.

"I am Gabriella Montez."

There was a pause before, "that doesn't give me any information other than your name Ms. Montez. I was asking along the lines of how are you involved in this situation." It was nice that Troy Bolton was still rude as he was in high school thought Gabriella once again before explaining how she came about being by her sister's bed side.

She could hear him walking and barking out directions to people as he probably made his way out of from where ever he worked.

"I will be there as soon as I can," he said to her in between orders and explanations. And there was a moment before he asked "My father?"

"He was arrested and is down town."

"Good, make sure he does not get to my sisters before I get there," ordered the rude boy from her past but Gabriella couldn't help but feel that he was at that moment right.

"Don't worry, I will stay here until you get here and then hand over the reins to you"

After a moment more of listening to him talking to someone about getting him the chopper to take him to the airport (Troy Bolton had access to a helicopter thought Gabriella) he came back to talk to her.

"Thank you for being there for my sisters, I will personally thank you when I get there" said Troy and he hanged up the phone without waiting for her reply. The comment was nice but he was still rude thought Gabriella going back to sit with Mel and wait for news from Jessica.

Why did she feel that her life was just about to get more complicated?


	7. 10 years later: Troy

_Those of you who reviewed – YOU ROCK!!  
For some reason I really like this chapter._

_**Chapter 7: 10 years later - Troy**_

Troy's eyes opened and he found himself staring at the ceiling. He didn't need to turn to look at the bed side clock to know that it was five in the morning. Some mornings he felt like buying a roundtrip ticket to his home town, killing the bastard that was his father and coming back.

When he was ten his father had decided that he should have morning training sessions and had proceeded to drag him out of bed at five o'clock every morning no exceptions for weekends or holidays. It was three years later that he could get himself out of bed at the unholy hour with the help of three alarm clocks and two more before he just started waking up at that particular time like clockwork. Now even after ten years away from his father's thumb no matter how tired he was or little sleep he had the night before (he had gone to bed just 3 hours ago) he would still wake up on the dot at five unable to fall back to sleep no matter how hard he tired.

The only times he did not wake up was if he had drunk enough to forget his name the night before and that had not happened since he was an undergrad. He got up and put on a pair of shorts and t-shirt and considered that perhaps he should get himself some new running shoes as the ones he owned seemed scruffy. Then he hit the streets for his morning run.

Troy Bolton had done well for himself. At the age of 28 he was one of the most sought out corporate lawyers in New York. Companies had threatened to walk out of the firm he worked for if he was not the lawyer that was assigned to oversee their company. He had made lead attorney just after two years being at the firm, had a personal assistant plus two secretaries and three junior associates working under him.

Not bad for a high school jock whose father told him regularly that he would not amount to anything.

When he was a senior at high school Troy had accepted a full scholarship to NYU with an early admittance and had gone off to graduate from NYU just after 3 years. One of the reasons he had chosen NYU was because the scholarship had come regarding his academic achievements rather than his sporting ones although they had expected Troy to either play basketball or golf for the school but not both.

Shortly after coming to New York he had to make the decision to give up either basketball or golf. Much to the disappointment of the NYU basketball coach he had given up basketball knowing even though he was good at the game he was not going to grow much taller and this was something you needed when you played college ball. The coach had told him that he was young and he was bound to grow but Troy had been realistic; he was at the time 170 already and it was not likely that he would grow another 10 centimetres after 18 and even if by some miracle it happened it still would not have been enough to play college level basketball. He realised that he had been right about his decision when his height levelled out at 173. He found that he enjoyed playing basketball far more than before when he played it just for fun which he still did, two times a week with friends.

In the time he had spent at NYU he had gone off to claim the title Junior Golf Champion to US two years in a row. And after a suggestion from the counsellor he was seeing due to his anger management, donated his summers to the peace core building schools, fixing water pipes etc. around the world in poor provinces, seeing more of the world then his age mates ever dreamed off. These achievements had got him a full scholarship to Harvard Law and then to a prestigious New York law firm right after graduation.

Now after four years at the law firm he was indispensable. He made a mind blowing amount of money which he had no idea of what to with as he was used to living his life on the minimum. He only replaced the things when needed. Even though he owned more suits and shirts then he would ever need he still did not excessively spend. The biggest amount of money he had spent was buying his Manhattan penthouse and his beloved Audio R8 which he only used on the weekends to get to the golf course otherwise he either walked or took the metro to get to work.

After his run he was back at his penthouse, taken a shower, eaten cereal for breakfast and was at his desk in his office around six thirty. His personal assistant Mark came in around eight bringing his coffee and with that his day began. His maniac work ethics from high school that had taken him though college and law school with ease remained as he was thorough with his work and always early with his projects. He held seven meetings that day including a lunch meeting. Completed a mind blowing number of jobs that left other lawyers wondering whether he was human or not.

It was now around seven and he was still at the office suffering though a meeting with a client, he messaged the bridge of his nose, he had a headache since lunch, not surprising when he got gotten about 5 hours of sleep in the last three days. They were trying to close the tax payments for the clients company for they were taking over another company which was always a mountain of paper work to do. He was exhausted and wanted to go home take a bath (yes so he enjoyed baths – they helped him relax) and go to bed when he heard his private cell phone go off. He saw though the glass window Mark answer it and then get up and move towards his office, he knew this would have to be important as only a handful of people had access to his private number.

He excused himself and met Mark half way, "it is your sister Melinda and she says it is an emergency." Troy froze for a moment, had something happened to one of his sisters?

"Mel," he said to the speaker and knew that something was very wrong when she started crying after hearing his voice.

He turned to Mark, "clear my schedule for the next week and get me on the first plane to Albuquerque." It took a while but he finally put together what Melinda was saying, Jack had done something to the girls and they were at the hospital with someone or another and she was calling him for their cell phone. When he heard that Melinda hadn't heard or seen Jess since they had brought them to the hospital his heart rate went up. He knew he should not have left the girls with the bastard after Sarah passed away.

He had feared that something would happen but never in his wildest dreams had he thought that the girls would end up in the hospital. He himself had never even needed first aid after the bastard was through with him. He had made the girls promise to call him should anything out off ordinary happen even both had asked what he had meant and he now regretted being so vague when they both had pressed for an explanation. He knew he had been selfish in not going back for the funeral but he couldn't bear to face the bastard. Now he was paying for it in triplicate like usual.

After he hung up with Melinda he hit redial hoping to get the person who actually owned the phone.

"Hello?" came the timid voice, just what he needed, someone his father could corner.

He barked out a "Who are you?"

"I am Gabriella Montez," was the reply, while the name rang a bell he couldn't place it and it did not give him much information to go with. He got where he was by being blunt and straight to the point. He didn't make a lot of friends however he got the job done.

"That doesn't give me any information other than your name Ms. Montez. I was asking along the lines of how you are you involved in this situation."

He walked into his office and ordered Mark to get his overnight bag out for him while he packed his laptop up. The partner he was working under came in concerned and he just gave him the brief version between listening to Ms. Montez explain how she had gotten involved in the situation. His boss knew enough about him because Troy considered him enough of a friend to tell him certain things and John told him to take as much time as he liked, and in that time he knew that Ms. Montez was the girls maths teacher '_for F--K sakes!'_, not who he would like to have near his sisters at a time of crises but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"I will be there as soon as I can," he said to her in and when Mark told him that the next flight to New Mexico was in six hours his eyes flashed that had Mark baking up. John, his boss, told Mark to contact the firm jet and have it ready for Troy to go when he got to the airport. Troy gave his boss a nod and took a breath and asked the maths teacher, "My father?"

"He was arrested and is down town."

He was relieved to hear that and it could be heard in his voice as he ordered the girl "Good, make sure he does not get to my sisters before I get there,"

"Don't worry, I will stay until you get here and then hand over the reins to you" said the girl on the other hand and he was comforted to hear that at least someone the girls knew would be there for them.

He turned around to Mark who was following him and told him to get him a chopper on the roof to take him to the airport. He had money, if it was not going to be used at times like these then when would it be used? He needed to say at least something nice to the maths teacher.

"Thank you for being there for my sisters, I will personally thank you when I get there" with that he hang up the phone without waiting for her reply and made his way to the roof where he could hear the blades of the chopper. For a moment he relished in the power that when you threw enough money around you could get a chopper within ten minutes.

His satisfaction however was short lived as he was going back to what he had run away from ten years ago and would come face to face with the man that haunted his nightmares.

* * *

_The meeting is coming up in the next chapter that should be up tomorrow..._


	8. They meet again

_**Chapter 8: They Meet Again**_

Gabriella was sitting by Melinda's bed. She had opted to stay by the girl's bed side as there was no one else and she had promised her older brother. She looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that it read four o'clock in the morning. The girl was not resting comfortably as she seemed to be caught in some dream that did not seem pleasant.

Gabriella thought that Melinda looked worse now than she did before as all the bruises on her arms and face were more visible as they had taken on a dark purple colour. Her arm was in a split and Gabriella was thankful it had not been broken but severely sprained.

Just before the girl drifted off into an uneasy sleep they had had news from Jessica, she was being moved to the intensive care unit and all they had been told was that she was out of danger and that they would keep her sedated for the night and that they could see her in the morning.

Gabriella could not fathom how anybody could do something like this, especially to their own flesh and blood. She reached over to the girl as she started to gently trash in the bed and smoothed her hair telling her that it would be alright and she was safe. She sat back when Melinda finally settled into a deep sleep with a sign.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone standing by the door of the room and she turned around and had to keep in a gasp. There standing by the door was a demigod. The years had been kind to Troy Bolton. If he had been good looking in high school he was now drop dead gorgeous. His bulk had filled out and he looked stunning even in his rumpled up blue shirt that he had pulled out of his pants and messed up hair and she could see that he had stuck his tie in the pocket of his jacket that he was wearing. He was just standing there by the door with the most heart breaking look on his face that Gabriella thought that she should get up and give him a hug.

She must have made a noise as his eyes turned onto her and in a second his eyes hid whatever he had been feeling behind the turbulence waters of an ocean. If she had not seen him a moment before she would have believed that he was unfeeling.

"Good evening," she ventured to say in a very quiet voice as not to wake the sleeping girl. He just nodded his head and seemed reluctant to enter his sister room.

"How is she?" he asked also in the same quiet voice.

"She is fine, it looks worse than it is, she would have been sent home tonight if there had been family here," she saw a very slight flinch at her words but continued, "however with Jess and everything they decided to keep her here."

He once again nodded his head and finally moved into the room to stand by his sister's bed. Gabriella abandoned her chair by the bed side so he could have it if he wished. When she moved he once again turned to her, "Ms. Montez thank you for being there for my sisters. I owe you a dept that cannot be paid."

Wow, so Troy could smooth talk when he wanted thought Gabriella however she was exhausted and before she could reply a huge yawn split her face. When she finally could see, she saw that Troy was smiling slightly, "You must be exhausted from being here for all this time. I would not like to keep you here any longer than necessary," his voice was soft and smooth, not like the snarling and quick tempered voice she remembered from her past or the telephone conversation.

"It was no problem but since you are here I am going to go home take a shower, catch some shut eye and I will be back tomorrow afternoon," she said to him.

"It is not necessary..." he began but she cut him off, she was tired and not in the mood to argue with him.

"I will be here to see how the girls are. And I have yet to see Jessica so I would appreciate it if you told Melinda that I would be back later in the day." With that she gathered her things and walked out without saying good night. After all two could play this game as well as one.

Troy's eyes followed the exotic beauty that was Gabriella Montez as she huffed and puffed and left the hospital room. The moment his eyes had landed on her sitting by his sister's bed everything about why her voice and name was achingly familiar had clicked as he had remembered her.

He had been up to see Jessica before he came down as he was told he could see her but not stay with her. His brain had yet to accept what he had seen in her room. He was told that she would make a full recovery and they were almost 90 percent sure that the scars would fade, even if they did not there was plastic surgery and Troy was glad that her face was spared the horror. There was a long road of recovery ahead for her and if first Melinda then the police hadn't shown up when they did the doctor on duty had informed him that it would have been too late for his little sister.

He felt his hands clench and unclench as the familiar burn of the anger he thought he had gotten rid of years ago made its presence known. He wished he had his squeeze ball with him. There was one in his office drawer at work as well as his office at home and it had been a while since he felt that he needed it. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself. His sisters needed him 'with his head in the game,' as his old high school motto went.

He traced Melinda's cheek with the back of his fingers like he used to do when she was little and sat down in the evacuated chair. He needed something else to think off to distract him or otherwise he would be breaking furniture. He couldn't help the smile that came over his face when his thoughts took him to Gabriella Montez. He hadn't thought about her in a very long time. He remembered her to be a sweet and innocent girl from high school who was so smart that Troy had thought that see existed in a whole new level then the rest of the human population.

They had been forced to work (forced on her part, he would have given his right arm and leg to be partnered with her after the first time) several times though out their junior and senior year. Troy had put in so many extra hours of studying when they were partners so he could at least be on the same playing field as her and hoped that she would see him more than the jock she was stuck with. She had never seen him as anything else. He on the other hand had loved sitting with her in the library and listen to her tell him about Neutrons third law or whatever else they were working on. He had loved the way she would frown when she was thinking too hard or keep her mirth contained when he said something that bordered on funny or the way she would flip her hair from one side to the other when she was writing and then he could smell the vanilla of her shampoo.

He had wanted to ask her out so many times in his senior year or at least be her friend but he didn't have time for friends in high school even the ones he had where kept at a distance and they were never allowed into Troy Bolton's world. Even now there were few people that he let get close. Back then he couldn't see himself as someone an angel like her would want and like. He had seen the way she would take the furthest available chair at the table when they were working together even after knowing each other, at least in the academic sense or the way she would leave right away when they were done studying.

In NYU when he had finally decided to try the dating scene as opposed to the one night wam-bam-thank-you-ma'ams he was used to with cheer leaders, he had found that he measured every girl he went out with against his Gabriella ruler. She was not smart enough, she was not kind enough, she was not pretty enough. It had taken a serious relationship with an older law student in Harvard to finally put Gabriella in his past and leave her there.

However in a matter of hours his entire past had come back to laugh at his face and he had found that he was railing back from wounds that had never healed in the first place, just scabbed over enough to forget about them. He was afraid that in the following weeks they would all open and he would find that they had not only not healed but infested as well.

He had gotten about five hours of sleep in the last 72 hours due to his crazy work schedule and now that was why his thoughts were so scattered and he could feel his body and mind catch up and report back on just how tired he was. The panic and the worry of the last seven hours were catching up to him and he finally felt in control enough by his sisters bed side knowing that at least for tonight they were safe. His eyes fluttered closed and he fell into a much needed deep sleep in the uncomfortable hospital chair.


	9. Melinda

_**Chapter 9: Melinda**_

Consciousness returned slowly to Melinda as she began to wake up from a night of weird dreams. She could hear that where ever she was it was calm and quiet however there seemed to be a number of voices and people moving about. For a moment she wondered where she was, and then she remembered coming home from volleyball practice early due to one of her team mates getting injured. She had walked into the house and for a moment she had frozen in place as she had heard the distinct noise of something hitting flesh and her sisters pain filled cries. She had thought there must have been an intruder in the house and had made her way up the stairs two at a time.

Now after the incident she knew that she should not have rushed in but called for help. After all she had got to the room but was not much of a help and she wouldn't have been whoever it had turned out to be.

She had located that the noise was coming from her father's office and rushed into the office only to find her beloved father standing over her sister.

The rest she didn't want to remember about therefore she opened her eyes in order to think about something else. She looked around the hospital room and smiled when her eyes landed on her older brother who had his head pillowed on his arms and was leaning on her bed and was apparently sleeping even snoring very lightly.

She hadn't really known her older brother while growing up; the memories she had of him before he left home were fuzzy to say the least. She remembered a quiet boy who had the silkiest voice when he read her and Jessica bed time stories, had the nicest voice when he sang them silly songs and that he could throw them really high in the air and wasn't shy of rough housing with them.

After he left home it had become letters and postcards and when they were old enough to be digital e-mails. Of course there were always the cool gifts they got for birthdays and Christmases. They hadn't really gotten to know one other until three summers ago. Their father had been invited to be a guest speaker at a prestigious sporting summer camp for two weeks and they were also inviting his wife along as well. It was like a vacation for their parents who had always been tight on money; the camp was willing to pay for both their expenses. However the fact remind on what they would do with them. Jessica and her had heard arguments between their parents, their father saying 'no way in hell' and 'that ungrateful brat' and their mother arguing with things like 'but he is willing' and 'why not?'

In the end they weren't sure who won but they had gone off to spend two weeks with their older brother in California. It was their first time for many things; such as getting on a plane, staying at a hotel, seeing the ocean, surfing, and not to mention going to Disneyland. Troy had been just as excited to be doing these things along with them. They were 13, he was 25 and they had had a blast.

The following summer had been the same drill but this time he had taken them to the other side of the world to France. They had been to Euro Disney, Troy telling them when something was right and you enjoyed it why differ from the pattern. They had also visited enough art galleries that had both Troy and Jessica saying were enough to last them a life time.

Troy had apparently been athletic in High School. You could still see his photos and trophies in the display case in school and Jessica was following along his footsteps, she was in the varsity hockey, basketball and cricket team. Melinda herself was not so athletic, although coming from a family like hers it was impossible not to be involved with some sort of sports however she was only on the volleyball team. She was the artistic member of the family who was into all sorts of art and wanted to be a stage designer when she grew up. She was part of the drama club in school and it had always looked like their father never knew what to do with her.

She loved Jessica because her twin always let her indulge in her fantasies and art and never complained that they were spending too much time on something that was not sport related and after their time in Paris she had come to adore with her older brother who never said anything about visiting yet another art gallery or spending hours staring at the same picture.

But it wasn't until last summer that they really had gotten to know one another. Their father had gotten a full time position at the summer camp and was delighted and their mother would be joining him for her two week vacation as well. What had come as a surprise was that they were being packed up to be sent to New York to spend six weeks at their brother's house.

They had fallen in love with his house which was a penthouse overlooking central park. They had both screamed crazy when they had found out that the guest room had been modelled just for them, one side of the room definitely having a sporty feel and the other an art theme, they even had their own bathroom!

The first week they had been there Troy also had the week off and they had all goofed off doing many of the things they had done over the last two summers; visiting fairs, museums, amusement parks etc. The following week Troy had gone back to work and Melinda had found herself signed up for an art class and Jessica to a sports class. The following weeks had their social calendars full as they enjoyed their classes and did many fun things together whenever they could fit it in; including messing about in Troy's kitchen trying to cook a gourmet meal and being told off like teenagers, which they were but it was very amusing to see their 27 year old all together cool brother be scolded by Martha, his housekeeper who came in three times a week.

The last week they spent in New York they were joined by their mother and both were surprised at the easy relationship that Troy and their mother seem to have. Over the last two years Jessica and her had discussed Troy's lack of presence at their home and they had come to the conclusion because perhaps of stereotyping, that the reason was a step-mother. They loved their mother but growing up both of them were closer to their Dad, he was the one who always dealt with their problems, listened to them complain about school, teachers and boys, he always had time for them. Their mother on the hand had always been very nervous and up tight telling them that they had to do better and that they could not afford to send them to university so they better work and get a scholarship. She also had seemed like she was afraid of standing up for what she believed in. However after the week spent in New York they both reluctantly came to the conclusion that it was their beloved father then their mother that was responsible for Troy not being there.

They never could put their finger on what exactly was wrong but after yesterday's events Melinda could venture a guess on why their brother lived 2000 miles away from them and had never set foot in the house that he grew up in after he left.

Melinda never had gotten extra attention from their father like Jessica had. Jessica was their father's favourite. He and Jessica would spend hours in the backyard practicing something or another. They would always be watching some sort of sports thing on television. And after knowing Troy Melinda had known why, Jessica was a carbon copy of Troy even though they only had a father in common. They both had the same slight athletic build, the same incredible blue eyes, and the same light brown hair with its natural highlights. They even flicked their hair out of their eyes the same way.

Now Melinda was thinking that the special attention must have been guilt for whatever had happened with her older brother and something yesterday had made her father snap. When her thoughts came in a circle coming back to yesterday's events she reached over to her older brother and touched his hair that was always too soft and begged to be played with. The moment she touched him he jerked wake with a very cute confused look which Melinda couldn't help but giggle about.

His eyes narrowed on her and she could tell that he wasn't really angry just playing, "find something amusing do you?" he asked while trying to contain a yawn.

She just nodded her head and ventured a shy "Hi."

"Hi yourself," said Troy as he got and stretched and Melinda asked him what time it was, he looked at his watch and added, "it's just after 10 in the morning."

Then his full attention turned to her, "how are you? How do you feel? Is there anything I can do?" he asked in rapid fire and despite the situation Mel couldn't help but laugh.

"I am fine," she said and then frowned, "I don't know how I feel, blank or perhaps confused would describe me well right now," she finished looking at him and asking a million questions with her eyes.

"She is going to be fine," he said reading her like a book, "in fact I was waiting for you to wake up, the doctor wanted one last check up and then you can be released and then we'll go up and visit Jess, she is yet to wake," with that he was pressing the call button she had on the bed. "She was moved to a private room this morning and I am told she would be here for a week before they release her."

"Have you seen her?" asked Mel frightened of the answer.

Troy just looked at her, "yes I have," he said without any extra information.

"And?" prompted Melinda.

"While I have been told she would make a full recovery she doesn't look..." he didn't need to finish Melinda had been with her in the ambulance when they were being brought over to the hospital.

"I am so so sorry," said Troy looking at her with a heart breaking expression.

"Why are you sorry?" asked Melinda confused, it wasn't like this was anyway his fault.

He was saved from answering by the arrival of the nurse followed by the doctor who checked her out and claimed that she was fine and told her to take it easy for the next few days and then released her with a prescription for pain killers should she feel the need for them.

After the doctor was gone she looked around wondering what she was going to wear, she didn't want to put her clothes on from yesterday they were covered with her sister's blood. She suddenly found a bag on her lap. She carefully looked at the bag and then her brother.

"Thought you would need things to wear," he said and she smiled feeling relived. Throughout their lives it was their father that always considered what they would need and she had never given things a second thought.

But she had forgotten that her brother was the take charge kind of guy hence the new clothes. "You could have gone by the house and picked up clothes for me you know, instead of spending money and buying me knew clothes," she said even as she looked though the choices that she had been given.

His face showed his displeasure at that idea, "then I would have had to leave the hospital and your side and besides I don't think I have any means of entering the house. I have no idea if the locks are the same and not sure if I even have my keys after all these years, even if I somehow still had them they would be 2000 miles away."

She suddenly was curious, "if you did not leave the hospital, then how did you pick up new clothes for me?"

With that he gave her his Chester cat smile "there was this nurse..." he would have continued if she had not put up her hand to stop him. She got it; her brother probably could convince the female population that he was the president of the United States if he smiled that dazzling smile of his in their direction.

"Get out so I can change," she informed him.

"You sure you are ok to dress by yourself?" he asked suddenly worried about her.

Melinda would have been mortified if her brother was to help her and what she was feeling must have showed on her face as he looked at her in a weird way, "you know I changed your diapers when you were little," he informed her.

At that Melinda become more mortified, "get out! Get out now!" her brother gave a laugh and left her to change.

After she had changed they went down to the cafe to get Melinda something to eat and then made their way up to the six floor where Jess was.

Jess was in a single room that had a window and a small couch in the corner which Melinda thought would open into a pull out bed should any one spend the night in the room. They had Jessica sleeping by her side with pillows to support her so she would not roll over on to her back. It looked like her arm was broken as she had in a cast and that her leg was in some sort of brace.

"Her knee was broken and the doctors want to wait for the swelling to go down before they decide whether they should operate or not," informed her brother quietly as he followed her into the room.

"How is this going to get better?" asked Melinda as she leaned into her brother seeking comfort.

"I don't know sweetheart," he told her honestly, "but I am going to be here every step of the way." With that they moved further into the room and sat on the couch together waiting for their sister to wake up.


	10. Second Meeting

_**Chapter 10: Second Meeting **_

It was afternoon by the time Gabriella got back to the hospital. She found out that Jessica had been moved to a single room and had an approved visitors list. She was surprised and pleased to know that her name was on the very short list and was told this time by a polite and attentive nurse to make her to the sixth floor.

She made her way to room 6204, she slowly pushed open the door and quietly made her way in. What she found was hearth warming. Jessica was sleeping in the hospital bed and even though she had more bandages on her then a mummy she looked peaceful and pain free at least for the moment.

Melinda on the other hand was curled up on the little couch by the window sleeping as well with a blanket thrown over her. She walked into the room wondering where their brother was. She pulled up the chair in the room and sat by the bed to wait. After a few minutes the door opened and Troy walked in. He froze in place when he saw her sitting by the bed. Gabriella couldn't help but think that he looked even more handsome now that he had time to clean up. He was wearing a clean crisp grey suit and another blue shirt with a tie. Gabriella thought that he looked delicious and couldn't help the smile that came over her face at the sight of him. After giving her a weird look for her smile he indicated with his head that he wanted to speak to her outside. She got up and followed him out into the corridor.

"Ms. Montez, thank you showing an interest in my sisters that goes beyond your call of duty as a teacher," he said the moment they were outside.

She smiled, "it's no problem really, I think they deserve the best anyone can give them."

He returned her smile, "I agree and I also believe I owe you an apology."

Gabriella was confused, "why would you be apologising to me?" she couldn't help but ask.

At that Troy seemed to be the one that was confused, "for my rude behaviour on the phone last night. It was no way to behave towards someone who was helping my family."

Gabriella's brows went up at that, "really? I just thought that was pretty much your standard behaviour and I really wasn't expecting anything else," she informed him. At his more confused look she wondered if this guy even remembered her and felt the need to elaborate.

"High school Mr. Bolton, we went to high school together and you were never Mr. Nice back then either."

"Are you implying that I do not remember you? How could anyone forget you, you were...." at that moment he realised what he was about to say (beautiful, stunning, gorgeous?) and stopped himself before he made a fool of himself.

"I was ...?" said Gabriella wanting to know what this guy had thought of her in high school.

"Smart," came the short answer.

'Smart?' that's what he remembered? She couldn't help but ask, "And that has stuck in your memory, me being smart?"

"Yes," said Troy with a sheepish smile. This guy must get a pleasure out of getting a rise out of people or at least by getting under her skin. She was suddenly very annoyed and wanted to get rid of that stupid smile on his face.

"Well you know what I remember about you Mr. Bolton? You were rude and vulgar and a bully on top of everything else," she regretted the words that left her mouth as soon as she said them and for a moment she saw the mirror that were his eyes crack and saw that she had hurt him and in an instant his eyes froze over and she could swear she saw his defences go up.

"Well now that we have that out of the way, I also apologise for being a prick in high school but I assure you that..." and he stopped; he didn't need to explain himself to this person. He took a deep breath, there were a lot of things he needed to accomplish today and arguing with a girl from his past was not one of them.

"Despite your obvious dislike towards me as a person I was going to ask for a favour from you, if I may?"

Gabriella was taken back. She didn't dislike him, yes she had just insulted him but that came from being irritated rather then what she thought of him, she didn't even know him, hadn't even really known him in high school as well but he was continuing before she could set things right.

"I was wondering if you could stay with my sisters while I go down town and see what is happening with my father."

Gabriella was nodding her head even as she was gearing up to set the record straight between them, "about before..." she began but he cut her off.

"Please Ms. Montez, I honestly don't have the time to go down memory lane with you to be told that I was a jerk in high school. Let me assure you that I know. However today I have a father who is jail, a sister who is in the hospital with a broken arm, a knee and 37 stitches and another sister who is hurt and traumatized from what she has witnessed. I really need to know if you could stay here with them until I get back."

Why was it that she always said the wrong things to this guy? "Of course, I will be here for as long as you need me to stay. After all that is what old friends are for."

With that he gave her a funny look, shook his head like he was getting rid of unwanted thoughts and said "thank you," and walked away.

He was right throught Gabriella, he had a lot on his plate at the moment but she was determined that when he came back she would be the one to apologize to him. After all her opinion of him had changed after her first run in with him in the corridors of East High on her first day of high school, after she got to know him he had never been mean to her again. Of course she had avoided him like the majority of the school population did and to be honest he might not have been mean when they were forced to work together however he had never been nice.

Back then she never went and asked for him to be her partner on a project but held her breath hopping that the teachers would pair them together especially if it was a literature related topic. She had excelled in maths back then and when they were paired in a math related subject, no matter how much he studied, and she knew that he had, she always had found that she had to explain certain things to him. Whereas if it was literature she had found that he was in a league of his own, he had seen relationships and situations about the author and the text that she had never even considered.

Back then she had hoped that he would warm up towards her a little at least in their senior year. She had known about his reputation about a cheerleader a night and didn't want to become a scorch on his bed post. She didn't want to be the one to ask him on a date, knowing what he would expect at the end. She had at least hoped that he would ask her to be her partner on more projects but he never had. When they were together he had been all about the project they were doing together unless it was literature then he would go off on tangents about all related topics which she found that she could listen for hours however he never talked about anything else. Several times she had tried to start a conversation by bringing up his basketball accomplishments but he had always given her short answers about what he had done wrong and the shots he had missed before he had returned back to the topic. She had just assumed that he wasn't interested and haad left it at that.

She guessed it was too late for anything now, back then they were students who belonged to different worlds and now they were people who belonged in different universes, let alone have anything in common to talk about. However the least she could do was set the record straight between them when she saw him next.

* * *

_Well here you are... short but now we know what Gabriella really thought of Troy.  
I have a question. The next two chapters could be Troy dealing with Jack (which to be honset I have started writing but only have like 4 paragraphs into the next chapter) or all that could happen off scene and we can learn about it second hand (not as powerful as seeing Troy put his father in his place) but with that we can see what happens with Troy and Gabriella faster. Let me know if you have a preference.  
Thanks for reading!_


	11. Jack

_Sorry for the extreme absence - don't know if anyone is still interested in this story however I am planning to finish it, when I don't know but I will._

_**Chapter 11: Jack**_

Troy walked into the police station. He had made several telephone calls throughout the morning and had found out which prosecutor was assigned to the case and who the defence attorney was. On his way to the station he had given the prosecutor a call and the man was waiting for him when he got there. Sometimes it helped when you were a lawyer from a powerful firm that had branches all over the world. With a few phone calls he had found out more than an average person would have been able to do.

"Mr. Bolton," said a young powerful looking man coming over and shaking his hand. Troy had found out that this man was on the fast track of becoming the next district attorney and he didn't like to lose. Troy did not like that idea, he knew enough about trial law to know that his father might walk if he got a sympathetic jury. He was after all the legendary coach of the Wildcats, dedicated his life to rising the next generation. He had lost his wife to a drunk driver and in the view of these people had a moment of insanity and lost it. The case might not even go to trial and Troy was not going to let that happen.

"Mr. Jackson, I presume," he said shaking the man's hand. It was like he had guessed; the guy told him that his father might be out within a few weeks with a not guilty charge.

"You might want to get him some counselling when he gets out but he should be home in a few weeks."

"Mr. Jackson let me get something straight, are you implying that my father is going to walk away from this and that I should be happy about it?"

The man had been surprised that Troy did not rejoice at this particular piece of information, it was not surprising when Troy found out after a few moments that he had also been a student of Coach Bolton, before Troy's time. After a few moments he flat point asked Troy.

"Do you want your father to go to jail?"

Troy looked over at the man who probably had worshiped his father while he was in high school. "He put my sister in the hospital and no matter what my feelings for the situation are I would like justice to take place. I have decided to become a lawyer and I swore to up hold the law, I would have hoped that you would have had the same feelings and beliefs especially since you are a prosecutor." At this the man seemed a bit thrown off balance and Troy did not give him time to regroup. "If this was to go to trial and a guilty verdict came what would he get?"

Jesse Jackson was embarrassed enough to answer, "New Mexico has some of the harshest sentences against child abuse, he could get up to 25 years if the case was very harsh and he had a history of abusing someone. But you yourself know that this case is not, he does not have a history of abuse and if the case goes before a jury and a guilty verdict comes, he would likely get 8 to 10 years because of what he did to your sister."

After a moment of thought Troy asked, "what if he were to plead guilty, what would you offer him?"

"There is no reason why he would plead guilty. His attorney probably has just told you everything I have and more and he will not plead guilty," he repeated just to make himself be clear.

Troy was losing his patience with the man, "what if he were?" he asked very short and a hint of his anger could be heard in his voice.

Jesse Jackson hadn't come to the position of prosecutor at this young age because he was an idiot, he suddenly knew that Troy Bolton wasn't telling him everything and he wondered if things like these might have happened before. He also knew that many cases of child abuse never came to see the light of day. He had been born and raised in Albuquerque, he had been a Wildcat himself he also knew of Troy Bolton and his many achievements and if there had been a case of abuse in the past there would have been no way the Captain of the basketball team would have come forward. He knew if he himself were to be in the same position he would have not.

He had never before been easy on cases of child abuse cases no matter how mild they had been but after 13 years as a prosecutor he had found out that he was going to let a man go because he knew and admired him. Suddenly a man he admired and was thinking of getting out of this situation lost all formal glory in his eyes.

He answered truthfully, "because Mr. Bolton has no prior arrests and there is no history of child abuse and as he is an outstanding member of the community if he were to plead guilty I would offer him the lightest conviction given in these circumstances." He waited for a moment to see if Troy had a comment to make when there was no information fort coming he went on.

"That would be five years in a minimum security prison with a chance at parole at three because of the severity of this case." He waited to see if Troy Bolton would add anything and went on, "of course this is for the current situation however if you know of anything that would change the situation," he said prying a little.

At the question Troy looked up at the man. And no he did not have anything to add to the situation, he did however know what he was going to do. "Please call Mr. Wickham who is defending my father and offer him the deal."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack Bolton walked into the visitor's room wondering who could possibly be seeing him. He had talked to his lawyer just that morning and he was told that his chances of walking were very high. They had worked out a battle plan; he was going to plead 'not guilty' to the charges tomorrow and he was likely to walk out here tomorrow because after the charges his lawyer was going to ask for bail and he was sure the judge would go easy on him.

He regretted losing control with Jess but he had suddenly been very angry and he couldn't even remember what had made him so angry. He wasn't even told how she was. He never knew what was happening and he remembered that Mel was there at one point but he had come to his senses when a police officer had dragged him away. Until that time it hadn't even been his daughters that he was with. He couldn't take it that Jess was smart mouthing off and it had just that Troy had never answered back to him and when he had thought of Troy he had remembered his first wife that had walked out on him – the bitch!

As he walked in the room he stopped in his tracks and froze in his place. He couldn't believe it, he was just thinking about him and never thought that he would never show up. But thinking over it, who else was going to come? Jack had no family. He was an only child and his parents had had him late and passed away when Troy was very little.

He suddenly found himself remembering a Christmas they had when everything had been going fine. Troy was about three and he had gotten his first real size basketball and they had gone outside to throw baskets. They had spent several hours outside with Troy learning to handle a real basketball. Troy had made his first basket with Jack lifting him up and making sure that he could reach the basket.

Jack was brought out of his musings when a cold and insincere voice asked, "something wrong?"

He looked at his eldest; he had no one to blame but himself for his sons' cold demur. "Sit down," came the unkind request from Troy.

He looked over his son, he looked well and healthy. Jack had no idea what to say to him. How did you say you were sorry in a situation like this? Especially under the current happenings, it was several years ago, six to be exact when he had realized that he had lost his son.

Of course he had known that he had lost the boy the moment he had announced that he was moving to New York half way through his senior year. There had been nothing he could have done, the boy had been over eighteen. Jack had not gotten him anything for his birthday or at least anything that he gave the boy. The special edition sports watch that he got the boy for his birthday still sat specifically engraved in his bedside drawer. He had never had the guts to hand it to his son.

He had noticed that the older the boy got, the more perfect he became because of his unforgiving behaviour, the further away his son went and it was six years ago when he woke up and noticed that his son would have turned twenty-one that day. It had been twenty-one days ago that in the morning they had handed him a beautiful blue eyed baby boy. It was one of the happiest days of his life but he had no one to blame for the loss but himself.

That morning he had gotten up and locked himself in the bathroom turned on the shower and the tap and cried. That day should have been him and his son enjoying his first alcoholic beverage together at a bar, a day of celebration that he had become a man. Jack also knew that there would never be anyway he could say he was sorry or anyway that they could ever have a relationship.

He looked into eyes just like his own however they were cold and filled with loathing as they looked onto him. He swallowed and took a seat across from his son in silence.

"You are going to call your lawyer and change your plea to guilty," stated his son calmly as he was commenting on the weather.

"What? No!" burst out Jack no matter how shocked he was, he was not!

"Quiet!" came the chilling comment, "let me tell you how this is going to happen Jack," said Troy and Jack's heart skipped a beat. He realized he did not remember his son calling him Dad. He had always called him 'sir' or 'coach,' when was the last time that he called him 'dad'?

"You will plead guilty and the district attorney will offer you five years in minimum security with a chance to parole at three."

Troy held up a hand silencing Jack who would have made a comment.

"Let me tell you what would happen if you do plead not guilty," said Troy and stared Jack right in the eye and went on, "your lawyer thinks you will get off because you are an upstanding member of the community," he said with a sneer, "they think you have no history of child abuse, that this was a moment of insanity."

"But _Dad,_" he said emphasizing the 'dad' and Jack wished that he had not called him that even as he had wished for it moments before, "we both know that you might be an upstanding citizen but you are a low life scum who enjoys abusing his own children."

"That's not true!" Jack couldn't help but protest, "I have never laid a hand on either Jess or Mel..." he trailed off, "the other night was a mistake, I don't know what happened. But it won't happen again!" he said with conviction.

"Oh, so you just enjoyed hurting me than is that it?" asked his son and it was like someone had poured a bucket of ice water on him at the comment and he found himself effectively silenced.

After a moment Troy continued, "however you are right it won't ever happen again because you are not going to come near Mel and Jess for the reasonable future. After your jail time if they wish to see you then you can pursue a relationship with them."

"I am not going to plead guilty," said Jack. This was a mistake when he got out of here he would prove it to his daughters.

"Yes, you are," hissed his son and Jack was reminded of a rattle snake, a very very dangerous and poisonous rattle snake that was shaking it rattle letting you know that it will strike. "Because if you do not, I will make sure that this case will go to trail and that every single person in this town will know what kind of a father you are."

Troy let that sink in for a moment, "I might have thought what you were doing was just when I was a child however I do know once the jury finds out how you made your son a super star I am sure they will return with a guilty verdict. And do you know that you might even get up to 25 years in jail for this."

He waited for a breath before going on, "personally I would love to see you go to jail for the next 25 years and your upstanding reputation get dragged through the mud."

Jack found a bit of his voice back, "it would be your say against mine," he said not with real conviction.

"You think the jury would choose you over me? Why would I have any reason to lie? I am a very successful lawyer from New York, why would I come back to this place and place myself on the stand against my _loving_ father," he said sarcastically.

"And further more your reputation will be ruined no matter which way the verdict goes," he stated.

"I made you!" hissed Jack finally getting angry.

"Yes you did," said his son really calm, "because of you I became a state champion basketball player and even went to Harvard due to my academic record and not sports but let's see if the jury agrees with your methods of motivation."

Troy had enough, Jack was anything but stupid he should understand what was at stake or at least call his lawyer to ask about his options now. He got up signalling that this meeting was over.

"I would change my plea if I were you," he said looking down his father, "after all when I set my mind to it I have been classically conditioned never to lose at anything in my life and if you go up against me you will find out just how effective your methods have been. Because _Dad_ I don't lose. I can't lose." With that he turned around and started to leave.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard a soft, "Troy." He did not turn back around.

"My office," started Jack but stopped in his tracks when he saw that Troy's shoulders tense up. How many times he had said that to his son for it turn rather unpleasant for Troy? "My desk, third drawer on the right hand side," he said.

Troy waited for a millisecond more to see if the bastard would say anything else when nothing else was forthcoming he walked out the door. Hoping against all hope that Jack for the first time in his life would do the right thing and change his plea.


End file.
